Tag: Isle Of Wight

You know what it’s like, same old faces, same old places but every now and then a different opportunity arises and you get to see things in a whole new light.

Low tide in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight offered me that this morning. I’ve been here a few times and have only shot the lifeboat station from the beach and had no idea of the shelf of rock the station is built on and the covering of life that lies just below the surface.

When I picked up my new lens I treated myself to a polarizing filter and I’ve been scratching my head to its usefulness but this morning in the hard light and reflections it came into its own and I really saw the difference it made.

I spent a couple of hours in Bembridge this evening and had a bit of a mooch about on the beach. I’ve been here before and the first thing that strikes you when you get to the there is the Lifeboat Station so it was a case of been here, done that so I had a little wander a bit further afield and found something amazing.

I’m not 100% sure exactly what’s happened but I would expect it to be natural erosion but about 400 metres West from the station there’s a clump of fully grown trees protruding from the shingle beach, some of them right on the high tide line. All of them dead but still standing solid and sound. Normally the landslip of the erosion would have felled them but not these.

They look as though they’ve slumped into the sea and whilst the brine has killed them they’re roots were strong enough to keep them upright and resolute against the relenting tide… This won’t last and I know they’re fighting (or not ’cause they’re dead but you know what I mean…) a loosing battle and it’s going to be interesting keeping an eye on them in the coming years.

And, because I’m a sucker for leading lines I had crowbar at least one shot of the walkway to the lifeboat station in, featuring yours truly! ;o)

I’m sure you’re all aware of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, well, did you know there was a Pied Piper of The Isle Of Wight?

The small hamlet of Newtown on the Isle Of white, once known as Franceville (Freetown) and was a prosperous natural harbour, beaten up by the Danes in 1001CE and again by the French in 1377 never again to be as vigorous apart from a little bit of favour from Elizabeth I in the 16th Century and her effort with a tad of vote rigging but I digress and before I go further a note from my “sponsors…”

The Legend:

“There are stories of a pied piper, hired for 50 pounds to save Newtown from an excess of rats, which are similar to the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany. He is said to have played his pipe and led the rats into the Solent, where they drowned. The townspeople refused to pay the agreed price, and gave the piper 20 pounds, so he then led the children away. The town lost an entire generation, so had no young people to defend it when the French attacked in 1377.”

On a genuine note though, it was flat and grey this evening but the wealth of wildlife that is evident within this beautiful setting is stunning and I spent a good hour watching them as well as working on my composition and judging my exposure. Six seconds @ f/16 ISO 100 with a sky that flat I knew I had to work on the subject, the Boat House was the obvious as were the brooks of water, I wanted to make sure they were flat like the sky, hence the long exposure. The leaning posts that obviously once served a purpose were a little bit harder to judge and it took a little bit of wading to get into the right place but I like the lines, I like the flatness of the image and now I’ve done a bit of reading up on the location I’m a huge Franceville fan and believe me, there is so much more to see there I will be returning.

So, The Beast From The East, known in some other parts of the world as A Little Bit Nippy Today has grasped the UK by the short and curlies. There are benefits though, in the parts of the country not inches deep in snow we have been treated to clear blue skies and beautiful clear nights. Perfect I thought last night, I should head down to the South of the Isle of Wight, Brook Bay to be exact. As the (very fit or soon to be very wet) crow flies the next bit of land it would encounter is Florida so the chances of light pollution on the horizon was minimal. I knew the composition (I’ve been there before a few times….) The boat in shadow, the contrast between the path and the grass, faint in the star light, the sea, dark and ominous and then the huge expanse of the universes stretching off into infinity (That crow refused to fly). The Moon on the other hand, had other ideas, up there, shining it’s silvery light and overruling most of the universe…. Pesky satellite!

That said, there is the promise of snow at home tomorrow and if the Moon feels like doing the same across a snow covered Stourhead I’m not complaing too much… Lovely satellite… #fingerscrossed

So, here I am, just heading into year three of my photography journey and it’s been rewarding, frustrating, beautiful and humbling. I’ve exhibited once and have a second in the pipe line. I’ve raised over £1400.00 for charity and have my work hanging on over 200 walls across the world in 2018….

And relax, right, that the trumpet blowing done. I really don’t know how to put into words how proud of myself I feel but believe me, this journey is only just getting started.

If you’re just starting out on your own journey then the little snippets of advice I would offer is look harder, ignore the criticism (arseholes), listen to the critique (beautiful, generous people on the same journey, just a few stations further along), learn and don’t beat yourself up too much. I’m only catching everyday moments, the trick is to see past the everyday bit.